Parents of the High School Class of 2017/College 2021

Thanks for the compliments on the art :lovestruc

I was feeling kind of bad that her school doesn't have any higher level art classes for her, so I emailed a private college not far away from her about the possibility of taking an art class or two on the side. They pointed me to a page on her college's website in which a certain amount of students get to take a class each semester from one of 3 surrounding schools for free. So she can check that out with her adviser for next fall and hopefully something fits into her schedule.

We went to DD16's speech contest today and DD19 got asked to prom (knew it was coming- a boy from the girls' friend group who needed a date, and DD wanted a re-do of last year's prom when she was sick). So after contest we stopped a couple of places and found a dress at Dillard's so that's done already!
 
This weekend DD out application for student housing. She is picking a themed living housing, One is drugs and alcohol free or sophomore experience. We aren't sure if the drug and alcohol free is for those that just don't want that life style or don't want to be around or deal with drugs and alcohol or if it's mainly for those that are recovering addicts. My DD doesn't drink or do drugs and doesn't want to be around it or be stuck with room mates that do.
Well we thought the sophomore experience was a dorm but its not so the only things available even with early registration is apartment with kitchens. She was hoping for one without kitchen. I took her prep meals this past weekend and she got excited. She said maybe having a kitchen isn't so bad-lol! This summer I will teach her easy meals , easy prep meals and some frozen pizza and burritos. She's kinda excited about it.

Just curious whats the average students in apartment spend on groceries. is it best to budget weekly or monthly? My DD isn't a big eater. I know I read somewhere that having students share grocery bill between room mates is more expensive. DD is planning on having her own food. Plus she doesn't drink milk, eat eggs, certain meats etc. I keep saying this semester is going to fly by!! I'm hoping it still comes out cheaper than having a meal plan. I'm glad no meal plan is needed with apartment with kitchen. If she gets RA position then she gets free housing and meal plan and can be put in a dorm or an apartment. We are just planning ahead
 
This weekend DD out application for student housing. She is picking a themed living housing, One is drugs and alcohol free or sophomore experience. We aren't sure if the drug and alcohol free is for those that just don't want that life style or don't want to be around or deal with drugs and alcohol or if it's mainly for those that are recovering addicts. My DD doesn't drink or do drugs and doesn't want to be around it or be stuck with room mates that do.
Well we thought the sophomore experience was a dorm but its not so the only things available even with early registration is apartment with kitchens. She was hoping for one without kitchen. I took her prep meals this past weekend and she got excited. She said maybe having a kitchen isn't so bad-lol! This summer I will teach her easy meals , easy prep meals and some frozen pizza and burritos. She's kinda excited about it.

Just curious whats the average students in apartment spend on groceries. is it best to budget weekly or monthly? My DD isn't a big eater. I know I read somewhere that having students share grocery bill between room mates is more expensive. DD is planning on having her own food. Plus she doesn't drink milk, eat eggs, certain meats etc. I keep saying this semester is going to fly by!! I'm hoping it still comes out cheaper than having a meal plan. I'm glad no meal plan is needed with apartment with kitchen. If she gets RA position then she gets free housing and meal plan and can be put in a dorm or an apartment. We are just planning ahead

My daughter's school doesn't have the typical dining plan with cafeterias. Students have money loaded on a card and use it at different eating places and grocery stores. Freshman year it equates to $18.50 a day. That goes down to $12 sophomore year. This year my daughter has just a fridge and microwave in her room with a kitchen in the dorm. Starting next year she'll have a room with a kitchen which she's excited about.

As for spending, she's stayed well under the $18 and should be able to manage ok next year. My suggestion is to pick a number, have your daughter keep track of spending and adjust if necessary. I think weekly is better to start with but give it time to shake out. Maybe set her up with stuff that doesn't need to be replaced often and non perishables and then give her an amount for fresh ingredients.
 


My daughter's roommate was hit hard with the flu Thurs. night. She went home Fri. and was going to go to the hospital. Sunday night my daughter heard from her that she was actually doing better and would be back on Monday. Glad the roommate is doing better but I am so paranoid about my daughter getting sick. I have texted her everyday that she needs to keep up with cleaning the room and washing her hands. I also told her at the first sign of sickness to please let me know. Her college isn't that far away. I'd rather her go to our dr. than at school. I haven't heard too many positive reviews about them. My daughter also mentioned that sickness seems to be going around the school. Hope everyone else's children are staying healthy.
 
My daughter's roommate was hit hard with the flu Thurs. night. She went home Fri. and was going to go to the hospital. Sunday night my daughter heard from her that she was actually doing better and would be back on Monday. Glad the roommate is doing better but I am so paranoid about my daughter getting sick. I have texted her everyday that she needs to keep up with cleaning the room and washing her hands. I also told her at the first sign of sickness to please let me know. Her college isn't that far away. I'd rather her go to our dr. than at school. I haven't heard too many positive reviews about them. My daughter also mentioned that sickness seems to be going around the school. Hope everyone else's children are staying healthy.

There is nothing worse than being sick while away from home!
I hope your DD stays healthy and it's good to hear that her roommate is doing better.

My DD got strep throat, along with a dozen or more girls from her sorority. I'm just glad it was not the flu!
 
Just curious whats the average students in apartment spend on groceries. is it best to budget weekly or monthly? My DD isn't a big eater. I know I read somewhere that having students share grocery bill between room mates is more expensive. DD is planning on having her own food. Plus she doesn't drink milk, eat eggs, certain meats etc. I keep saying this semester is going to fly by!! I'm hoping it still comes out cheaper than having a meal plan. I'm glad no meal plan is needed with apartment with kitchen. If she gets RA position then she gets free housing and meal plan and can be put in a dorm or an apartment. We are just planning ahead

DD19 is in apartment style living at community college. I know she'll do a big shop of about $50 every so often, and smaller trips of maybe $15, but I couldn't tell you how much she spends in a week. I would say it is definitely cheaper than a meal plan, plus I send her with a lot of food from home. When she comes home we'll cook or I'll have things already in the freezer to send back with her. I save up the containers from our lunch meat and put meatballs, beef stew, BBQ ribs, potato soup, chili, stir-fry, etc. in them. I'll buy a bag of frozen chicken breasts and send a few back with her, or separate some pre-made hamburger patties into individual bags so she has single serving meat she can have whole or break up and mix in with something. She'll mix meat and/or vegetables into ramen or a flavored pasta or rice mix, bake a potato in the microwave, or make spaghetti. She and her roommates mostly keep their food separate but for things like ketchup and salt there is no need to have 4 containers of it.

On Monday nights Be-Bops has $1.59 burgers so she'll do that especially if she's at work that night- it's right in the same parking lot.
 


This weekend DD out application for student housing. She is picking a themed living housing, One is drugs and alcohol free or sophomore experience. We aren't sure if the drug and alcohol free is for those that just don't want that life style or don't want to be around or deal with drugs and alcohol or if it's mainly for those that are recovering addicts. My DD doesn't drink or do drugs and doesn't want to be around it or be stuck with room mates that do.
Well we thought the sophomore experience was a dorm but its not so the only things available even with early registration is apartment with kitchens. She was hoping for one without kitchen. I took her prep meals this past weekend and she got excited. She said maybe having a kitchen isn't so bad-lol! This summer I will teach her easy meals , easy prep meals and some frozen pizza and burritos. She's kinda excited about it.

Just curious whats the average students in apartment spend on groceries. is it best to budget weekly or monthly? My DD isn't a big eater. I know I read somewhere that having students share grocery bill between room mates is more expensive. DD is planning on having her own food. Plus she doesn't drink milk, eat eggs, certain meats etc. I keep saying this semester is going to fly by!! I'm hoping it still comes out cheaper than having a meal plan. I'm glad no meal plan is needed with apartment with kitchen. If she gets RA position then she gets free housing and meal plan and can be put in a dorm or an apartment. We are just planning ahead
Even when my kids have apartments, we still did/are doing meal plans - much smaller than the freshman year meal plan though. When the student is on campus all day for classes, it is often inconvenient to run back to the apartment for lunch. When they are on campus for evening classes, or evening group meetings or just studying, it is hard to run home for dinner. DS's second year he had 100 meals a semester and cooked some dinners at his apartment. We gave him $300 at the beginning of the semester for groceries. 100 meals a semester ended up being a bit too many for him. 3rd year he had a small meal plan (4 dinners a week) at his fraternity house (which also has a full kitchen), so we only got him a 50 meal plan from the school to supplement it. His finance program has so many group meetings and the workload is so heavy that it is much harder for him to cook this year. So 50 meals was not enough. For 2nd semester we bumped it up to 80 meals. We will do the same thing for DD next year when she is in an apartment. She'll get some grocery money and a small meal plan or dining dollars.
 
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Even when my kids have apartments, we still did/are doing meal plans - much smaller than the freshman year meal plan though. When the student is on campus all day for classes, it is often inconvenient to run back to the apartment for lunch. When they are on campus for evening classes, or evening group meetings or just studying, it is hard to run home for dinner. DS's second year he had 100 meals a semester and cooked some dinners at his apartment. We gave him $300 at the beginning of the semester for groceries. 100 meals a semester ended up being a bit too many for him. 3rd year he had a small meal plan (4 dinners a week) at his fraternity house (which also has a full kitchen), so we only got him a 50 meal plan from the school to supplement it. His finance program has so many group meetings and the workload is so heavy that is is much harder for him to cook this year. So 50 meals was not enough. For 2nd semester we bumped it up to 80 meals. We will do the same thing for DD next year when she is in an apartment. She'll get some grocery money and a small meal plan or dining dollars.
We were planing on having her use a credit card for meal swipes( it will be paid off every month). Or get a school money card with some $$ on it and she gets 10-20% off every purchase if she uses it in the dining hall or campus food areas. We figure if dd and her roommate want to hangout and eat at dining hall once in awhile she can. The cheapest meal plan is 200 meals and it’s $2500 for the year.
 
I am so excited for DS to be in an apartment next year. His required meal plan has been such a waste of money and I don't think he spends much time in his dorm at all.
 
I am so excited for DS to be in an apartment next year. His required meal plan has been such a waste of money and I don't think he spends much time in his dorm at all.
I also felt my DD's meal plan is a waste. There's no way she eats $3600 worth of food. She will be in an apartment on campus with 3 other girls. I'm just hoping they all get along:)
 
Update! So, remember the story about the guy who drew dicks on dd's refrigerator door ( no, it wasn't a white out board but a permanent marker all over the refrigerator. ) Well I got a little bit more of the story out of her. Apparently, when this happened she screamed at the kid to leave the suite. His response was, " whoa little girl, I'll leave when I feel like it. >:(Soon after he left when the other guys said let's go.

Anyway, tonight she came home with her roommate at about 9:30 pm. The police and a drug dog were next door at the boy's room. Yep, two of the three were charged for drug possession. Including the lovely artist that drew on their refrigerator. Looks like he may not be around to draw much longer. We'll see.


Ok, the first "situation" happened last night. Dd was hanging out in her suite when the guys next door came in. As far she knows they were not drunk, etc... They took a marker and started drawing penises on the refrigerator. Two of her roommates were there and they told them to cut it out. They were laughing hysterically as my dd tried to clean them off the refrigerator. As she was taking a paper towel and trying to rub off the pictures one of the guys said, " rub that d*** harder *****!" (I hope the censor works on this site!!!) This went on for several minutes. The girls told him stop and DD lost it a little. She called me later in tears. She was really embarrassed. At first I told her tell the RA. Then I thought some more during our conversation. I told her she and her roommates needed to get together and discuss this as these guys show up all the time and are friends with one of the roommates in particular. I said she should suggest that they tell the guys they are not welcome back if they are going to say garbage like that. They girls got together and decided they just didn't want the guys coming around anymore. I am sitting with this and glad they had a conversation but I'll be honest I hope I never see that kid when I come to visit or even worse my husband sees him. He was pretty angry last night!


I had to edit it to change the content e censor did not. Don't give me points please!!!:D

I wanted to fill you all in on the most recent happenings with this situation I posted about earlier in the year. Sorry the quotes are out of order. The first quote is actually supposed to be the second. Anyway the “artist” I will now refer to him as; is back on the scene. He finished the fall semester with a .8 gpa. His parents were fairly upset and pulled him off campus. So currently he commutes. Flash forward to Saturday night. He came around to see the guys next door who would not let him in. So he ran into a friend that was coming out of my daughter’s room. He asked her to hangout. She said yes and they went back to her room. “Artist” made a pass at her and she quickly told him to back off. She suggested they go to cafeteria in order to get him out of her room. After grabbing a snack she headed back to her dorm which routed them through the parking lot. He at that point tried to sexually assault her. Thankfully she got away. Whether she went to campus security I do not know. He then headed back to my daughter’s dorm. He attempted to once again to get in the guys room and they told him to go away. So, he went to the room on the other side of my daughter’s. Here’s where it gets nuts ( take notes). This room next door is also a suite with four girls. They had taped the lock so they would never get locked out.:sad2: He got in that room and found one girl asleep and the others gone. He began to tape her sleeping with his phone. He crawled in bed with her and tried to rape her. I do not know what happened from there or how she got away. When my daughter’s roommate left to go out on Sunday morning she found him passed out in front of their door. I know you all have had these conversations with your kids but gosh please share this story. Tell them to lock their doors!!!!!!! My heart goes out to this girl.:sad1:
 
I wanted to fill you all in on the most recent happenings with this situation I posted about earlier in the year. Sorry the quotes are out of order. The first quote is actually supposed to be the second. Anyway the “artist” I will now refer to him as; is back on the scene. He finished the fall semester with a .8 gpa. His parents were fairly upset and pulled him off campus. So currently he commutes. Flash forward to Saturday night. He came around to see the guys next door who would not let him in. So he ran into a friend that was coming out of my daughter’s room. He asked her to hangout. She said yes and they went back to her room. “Artist” made a pass at her and she quickly told him to back off. She suggested they go to cafeteria in order to get him out of her room. After grabbing a snack she headed back to her dorm which routed them through the parking lot. He at that point tried to sexually assault her. Thankfully she got away. Whether she went to campus security I do not know. He then headed back to my daughter’s dorm. He attempted to once again to get in the guys room and they told him to go away. So, he went to the room on the other side of my daughter’s. Here’s where it gets nuts ( take notes). This room next door is also a suite with four girls. They had taped the lock so they would never get locked out.:sad2: He got in that room and found one girl asleep and the others gone. He began to tape her sleeping with his phone. He crawled in bed with her and tried to rape her. I do not know what happened from there or how she got away. When my daughter’s roommate left to go out on Sunday morning she found him passed out in front of their door. I know you all have had these conversations with your kids but gosh please share this story. Tell them to lock their doors!!!!!!! My heart goes out to this girl.:sad1:
OMG!!!!!!!!!! That's awful and scary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See that's what worries me about DD being in a room with others. Even though DD is cautious other are not. Other room mates can bring other friends/guys and that can be a problem because they can do something or if their friend lets them stay without the others knowing , the other girls can walk out to the kitchen or livingroom and bam theres some strange guy. One never knows their intentions because where theres good theres bad. The artist needs to be reported and stopped! prayers for the girls
 
OMG!!!!!!!!!! That's awful and scary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See that's what worries me about DD being in a room with others. Even though DD is cautious other are not. Other room mates can bring other friends/guys and that can be a problem because they can do something or if their friend lets them stay without the others knowing , the other girls can walk out to the kitchen or livingroom and bam theres some strange guy. One never knows their intentions because where theres good theres bad. The artist needs to be reported and stopped! prayers for the girls

So my dd called with a little bit of new information. Th second girl went to school security. Again I don’t know how much information she gave them about what happened. My dd said that the school has tried to contact him to no avail. Apparently he has not shown up on campus either Monday or Tuesday. Dd said that she understands there is now a restraining order against him and he may not enter their building. It’s a start. My daughter then told me that she and the other girls in her suite decided to remove the hidden key to their room. What??!!!!:eek::faint: It’s like they don’t get it until something actually happens and it’s too late!!

Edited to add: Now I understand why the door automatically locks to these suites. There is no way to keep it unlocked ( outside of the tape situation). I also asked my daughter about kids making duplicate keys. She told me that the keys cannot be duplicated based on the way they are made. That made me feel a little better.
 
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So my dd called with a little bit of new information. Th second girl went to school security. Again I don’t know how much information she gave them about what happened. My dd said that the school has tried to contact him to no avail. Apparently he has not shown up on campus either Monday or Tuesday. Dd said that she understands there is now a restraining order against him and he may not enter their building. It’s a start. My daughter then told me that she and the other girls in her suite decided to remove the hidden key to their room. What??!!!!:eek::faint: It’s like they don’t get it until something actually happens and it’s too late!!

Edited to add: Now I understand why the door automatically locks to these suites. There is no way to keep it unlocked ( outside of the tape situation). I also asked my daughter about kids making duplicate keys. She told me that the keys cannot be duplicated based on the way they are made. That made me feel a little better.

This is such a horrible story. I feel so bad for all the girls involved. I agree with what you said about them not getting it until something happens. My daughter is like that. I warn her about a lot of stuff and she just feels I always worry and think the worst. My daughter is in the same type of dorm room as you described. I know her and her roommate are careful with keeping doors locked but if their suitemates don't than someone can come in to their room from the bathroom. I hope the police are in on this and not just the school security - although I know our school security are actual police officers. Anyway, good luck to all and I hope you keep us updated.
 
So my dd called with a little bit of new information. Th second girl went to school security. Again I don’t know how much information she gave them about what happened. My dd said that the school has tried to contact him to no avail. Apparently he has not shown up on campus either Monday or Tuesday. Dd said that she understands there is now a restraining order against him and he may not enter their building. It’s a start. My daughter then told me that she and the other girls in her suite decided to remove the hidden key to their room. What??!!!!:eek::faint: It’s like they don’t get it until something actually happens and it’s too late!!

Edited to add: Now I understand why the door automatically locks to these suites. There is no way to keep it unlocked ( outside of the tape situation). I also asked my daughter about kids making duplicate keys. She told me that the keys cannot be duplicated based on the way they are made. That made me feel a little better.

This guy needs to be arrested!
I don't understand going to campus security over something so serious, the police should be involved from the start. I wouldn't be leaving it up to the school who are so vested in their image to do the right thing.
 
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I wanted to fill you all in on the most recent happenings with this situation I posted about earlier in the year. Sorry the quotes are out of order. The first quote is actually supposed to be the second. Anyway the “artist” I will now refer to him as; is back on the scene. He finished the fall semester with a .8 gpa. His parents were fairly upset and pulled him off campus. So currently he commutes. Flash forward to Saturday night. He came around to see the guys next door who would not let him in. So he ran into a friend that was coming out of my daughter’s room. He asked her to hangout. She said yes and they went back to her room. “Artist” made a pass at her and she quickly told him to back off. She suggested they go to cafeteria in order to get him out of her room. After grabbing a snack she headed back to her dorm which routed them through the parking lot. He at that point tried to sexually assault her. Thankfully she got away. Whether she went to campus security I do not know. He then headed back to my daughter’s dorm. He attempted to once again to get in the guys room and they told him to go away. So, he went to the room on the other side of my daughter’s. Here’s where it gets nuts ( take notes). This room next door is also a suite with four girls. They had taped the lock so they would never get locked out.:sad2: He got in that room and found one girl asleep and the others gone. He began to tape her sleeping with his phone. He crawled in bed with her and tried to rape her. I do not know what happened from there or how she got away. When my daughter’s roommate left to go out on Sunday morning she found him passed out in front of their door. I know you all have had these conversations with your kids but gosh please share this story. Tell them to lock their doors!!!!!!! My heart goes out to this girl.:sad1:
Oh no! That's terrible! I agree with @gemini2727 that these sexual assaults should be handled by the police and not just the college. I'm actually shocked that the college has not handed the case over to the police. They will get a huge black eye if they don't because it'll look like a coverup. I hope that all the kids on that floor have the same wake up call.

FWIW, my DD is in a single now. One of the things I worry about is that something might happen to her like this and no one will be there to look out for her :(. She DOES lock her door after her dorm drama at the end of last semester when some mean girls were allowed access to her room by her roommate while both were away.
 
Oh no! That's terrible! I agree with @gemini2727 that these sexual assaults should be handled by the police and not just the college. I'm actually shocked that the college has not handed the case over to the police. They will get a huge black eye if they don't because it'll look like a coverup. I hope that all the kids on that floor have the same wake up call.

FWIW, my DD is in a single now. One of the things I worry about is that something might happen to her like this and no one will be there to look out for her :(. She DOES lock her door after her dorm drama at the end of last semester when some mean girls were allowed access to her room by her roommate while both were away.

I'm glad for you that she is at least in charge of locking up her own room, and not depending on others to keep it secure, that's a good thing!
 
This is such a horrible story. I feel so bad for all the girls involved. I agree with what you said about them not getting it until something happens. My daughter is like that. I warn her about a lot of stuff and she just feels I always worry and think the worst. My daughter is in the same type of dorm room as you described. I know her and her roommate are careful with keeping doors locked but if their suitemates don't than someone can come in to their room from the bathroom. I hope the police are in on this and not just the school security - although I know our school security are actual police officers. Anyway, good luck to all and I hope you keep us updated.
Yes, where the heck is the police and why haven't they gone after him. School security is just sitting waiting for him(no arrest) to attack the next victim? A restraining order will not keep him away!
 
Yes, where the heck is the police and why haven't they gone after him. School security is just sitting waiting for him(no arrest) to attack the next victim? A restraining order will not keep him away!

I’m not sure that the police are not involved. Unfortunately, I am only giving the information that I know.My dd is getting pieces and parts from those who live around her and have shared. She is not very close with this neighbor. As I get more I will share; believe me as a parent I keep asking questions!
 

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